The Time and Place to Change Personalized, Non 12 Step, Private, Help. Comfortable retreat surroundings, a home-like atmosphere coupled with respect, privacy, and understanding, will help you feel welcome, supported, and capable of finding the best solution to your substance use .

The Freedom Model for Addictions

The Freedom Model for Addictionstext is for anyone seeking an empowering way to move permanently beyond addiction and other self-limiting behaviors without the encumbrances of perpetual recovery. No other approach to addiction contains this level of straight-forward facts and logic.

The Freedom Model Private Instruction

For those who are seeking a trained professional to help them learn The Freedom Model for Addictions, we offer The Freedom Model Private Instruction online. This includes one-on-one classes with a Certified Freedom Model Presenter via videoconferencing with Skype or Facetime.

The Time and Place to Change Personalized, Non 12 Step, Private, Help. Comfortable retreat surroundings, a home-like atmosphere coupled with respect, privacy, and understanding, will help you feel welcome, supported, and capable of finding the best solution to your substance use .

The Freedom Model for Addictions

The Freedom Model for Addictionstext is for anyone seeking an empowering way to move permanently beyond addiction and other self-limiting behaviors without the encumbrances of perpetual recovery. No other approach to addiction contains this level of straight-forward facts and logic.

The Freedom Model Private Instruction

For those who are seeking a trained professional to help them learn The Freedom Model for Addictions, we offer The Freedom Model Private Instruction online. This includes one-on-one classes with a Certified Freedom Model Presenter via videoconferencing with Skype or Facetime.

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Greg Giraldo Dies at 44 – Tragic Case of Recovery

As I reported yesterday, comedian Greg Giraldo was in critical condition due to an accidental overdose just hours after performing at the National Recovery Month Rally in New York. The situation is worse now, he has died, and it truly is a shame. Some would call it a tragic case of addiction, I call it a tragic case of recovery.

Here is what the event’s organizers, OASAS, have to say about addiction:

Addiction is a chronic but highly treatable disease.

They also say:

“There are many pathways to recovery and each person’s journey is unique. We again will proudly join together as New Yorkers to welcome all those who celebrate recovery and offer hope to the 2.5 million New Yorkers who are dealing with the chronic brain disease of drug, alcohol or gambling addiction.”

Besides the “disease” terminology which I rant about endlessly on this blog (in short, it’s a lie), it’s really this whole “chronic” business that’s the real culprit in bringing people down. Addiction is not chronic – the preponderance of research shows that there is an average life-cycle to addiction, and that it falls short of the 10 year standard to be considered “chronic” (Heyman, Addiction: A Disorder of Choice)- it is not chronic or life-long. Typically, addictions last around 5 years. The majority of people who fit the into clinical description of dependent (addicted) quit long before their condition could ever be considered “chronic” – yet we tell EVERY person who presents themselves for treatment that addiction is a chronic relapsing disease. It is not. What’s more, this “recovery” term is always used in the present tense in the recovery culture – it’s a constant process, because they believe it’s a chronic disease. And when we lie about this, we do nothing but convince people that they will fail, and be addicted forever. Then what we have on our hands are cases of self-fulfilling prophecies, where we get what we expect – people who don’t believe they can change, tend not to change – and it leads to the story of Greg Giraldo.

Giraldo has apparently been “in recovery” since 2005. He desperately needed some hope and positive thinking, as evidenced by a disturbingly candid interview in Psychology Today:

There’s an expression I’ve heard used for people in my shoes, people who see themselves like I see myself. I feel like I’m “the piece of shit at the center of the universe.” It’s a paradox. You feel like you’re so shitty you ruin everything, but you’re so important and powerful that you caused it, that you actually are to blame for everything.

That whole “the piece of shit at the center of the universe” thing is a rare and confusing phrase, uttered only by the most deeply indoctrinated AA members – Giraldo probably heard it from his sponsor. I highly recommend you read the entire interview at Psychology Today in order to get a good picture of his mind-state 4 years into “recovery”. Then you can decide whether you think he was getting what he needed from the 12-steps. As you can imagine, I don’t think he was getting what he needed there. He needed to focus on moving forward, and feeling proud of his achievements, but he was probably only being pushed to see himself as a lifelong addict, and to focus on his “defects of character”. He had been living a life of “recovery” for the past 5 years – a life that by definition, includes struggle, self-contradictory messages, an all or nothing concept of substance use, powerlessness, and of course relapse. He was “recovering” instead of living – because that’s what a bunch of clueless people in the recovery culture taught him to do.

Mr Giraldo has succumbed to “recovery”, and it’s too bad, he deserved better.

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*In cases of physical withdrawal, medical treatment and/or medical detoxification services may be necessary. Consult with a licensed physician..The Freedom Model and the Freedom Model Retreats, divisions of Baldwin Research Institute, Inc., do not provide any services that require certification by New York State’s Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services. The information in this book is designed to provide information and education on the subject of substance use and human behavior. This book is not meant to be used, nor should it be used, to diagnose or treat any associated condition. The publisher and authors are not responsible for any consequences from any treatment, action, application, or preparation, by any person or to any person reading or following the information in this book. The publisher has put forth its best efforts in preparing and arranging this. The information provided herein is provided “as is” and you read and use this information at your own risk. The publisher and authors disclaim any liabilities for any loss of profit or commercial or personal damages resulting from the use of the information contained in this book.